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Kyra Memphsi
Kyra Memphsi is a female human electromancer from the Centralian Kingdom. She is the former advisor to King Conwyn Farlon, and current councillor in Adistone. = Early Life = The daughter of a baker and his meekly wife, Kyra Memphsi had a peasant’s upbringing in the filthy streets of Central. Her father was an abrasive drunk who abused her quiet mother emotionally in the daytime, and physically at night once he had returned from the tavern. Despite Kyra’s poverty-stricken upbringing, her mother was in fact the attractive daughter of an affluent merchant. She had been disowned by her own parents after falling in love with a handsome, but poor, baker, believing that their love for each other would allow them to find their own way out of poverty. Alas, whilst their first couple of years looked optimistic, their relationship began to deteriorate as they struggled to make ends meet… and finally hit rock bottom at the unplanned birth of Kyra. Having had a wealthy woman’s education when she herself was being brought up, Kyra’s mother taught her daughter how to read and write - her love for her child being the little escape from her sad reality she had left. Eventually, however, Kyra’s father began spending what little coins he had on ale, and her mother became so quiet and submissive that it was rare to hear her speak more than a sentence a day. Kyra would begin noticing dark bruises on her mother’s body in the mornings after her father’s nights out. At the age of just 6, Kyra’s life was changed forever when she discovered her mother’s body hanging from the ceiling, the once headstrong merchant’s daughter having committed suicide to escape her torturous life. Distraught and snapping into her fight-or-flight instincts, Kyra ran away from home into the dirty streets of Centralia.' ' = A Refuge For Women = After spending night after night sleeping in the streets eating whatever scraps she could find, Kyra was eventually approached by a young woman who appeared to take pity on her, and she was brought back to a seedy building in a back alley. Inside, Kyra met the self-named Madame Sestra, a beautiful and enigmatic woman who owned a notorious female-only brothel in Central. Kyra, who mirrored her mother’s looks and possessed a unique pair of violet eyes, had been scouted for her age and appearance to join their lifestyle. Having nowhere left to go, and being too young to properly understand what she was getting herself into, Kyra accepted and joined Madame Sestra’s “business”... In order to prevent pregnancy - an obvious nuisance in their line of business - Kyra underwent a painful operation to make her infertile. She was then glamorised with makeup and a purple dress to match her eyes and sent out into the streets to begin her new job. Despite Madame Sestra’s ruthlessness with competitors (a story had been passed around about her murdering the previous male owner of the business by poking out his eyes with a fork), she was fiercely protective of her workers and took a particular liking to Kyra’s dry humour and witty comebacks, which even earnt her the nickname “Aconitum” after the poisonous purple flower. Sestra taught Kyra everything she knew about her craft, and about men: how to lie, how to read and understand others, and most importantly, how to manipulate. One night, a drunk and angry man attempted to hire Kyra despite having no coin. He became violent and attacked her, strangling her, until one of Kyra’s fellow girls stabbed him in the back and saved her. As he cried out in pain, the two realised that the guards would soon hear - and so Kyra made the decision to silence him. In a blind rage - induced by Kyra associating the drunkard with her father - she impaled the knife through the man’s throat. He gargled his last breath, and collapsed. Although initially furious at Kyra for murdering a man, Sestra understood that it was in self defence and that she had no other choice. Sestra debated for a long time whether or not she should send Kyra on her way in order to ensure the guards do not give her business trouble, however, an opportunity came along which helped her make this decision...' ' = A New Home = A shady looking drow by the name of Oaken Bane dropped by Sestra’s business, and after a long private conversation, the Madame called all her girls to join them. Oaken was looking for a suitable candidate for some unknown job. Kyra’s unique looks immediately drew him to her, and Sestra explained that she would be happy to sell her to him due to the controversy surrounding the man’s murder. He agreed, and took her back to a home in the rich area of Central. Oaken introduced her to an elf by the name of Arinton Floux, and after feeding Kyra and trying to get to know her, Arinton revealed that he was in fact the Ludwagian ambassador for Central. Despite his kindness, Kyra would soon learn that Arinton had an ultimatum: he came to the brothel in order to find an apprentice - someone who could gather information for him without drawing attention to themselves. A spy. Arinton gave Kyra a spare room in his house, and throughout the following months fed her and taught her literature on politics, history and mancy. A topic which Kyra noticed recurring often was the art of electromancy: something which Arinton himself was an archmancer of. As time went by, Kyra learnt court etiquette - how to speak, act and even eat like a lady. Arinton would often bring her to balls as her ward, teaching her how to read the other noblemen and women and how to engage in conversation to charm information out of people. By 19, Kyra had changed from a brash and rude teenager to a charismatic and deceptive woman. Arinton began to send Kyra out on her own assignments at 20, finally being transparent about his motives: whilst he is an ambassador for Ludwag, he had also been assigned to collect intel and secrets from Central to pass back to his own government as a safeguard against potential plots on his homeland. Kyra reluctantly agreed to help, realising the gravity of the situation if she were to be caught. It would be high treason, punishable with nothing but death. Kyra was partnered with Oaken; as he worked behind the scenes, Kyra operated in the forefront, coaxing information out of people through her charm and wit. ' ' ''' = An Electric Personality = Having been tutored by Arinton throughout her teenage years, Kyra was eventually deemed capable of learning electromancy at the age of 22. She passed the trials, and instantly fell in love with her new powers. As she trained with her magic outside, Kyra often came across another young woman by the name of Selena. She was a skilled swordswoman with an outgoing personality, having a sense of sarcasm which matched with Kyra’s dry wit. The two discussed their lives with each other, and in passing Selena mentioned once having a girlfriend. Kyra was taken aback by this; since joining Madame Sestra’s business, she had only ever had experience with men, and ever since then she had never felt the slightest bit attracted to the male gender. As Kyra and Selena’s friendship grew, they eventually began a secret affair: the first serious relationship with another woman Kyra had ever experienced. ' = On Her Own = Kyra continued to help Arinton during her 20’s, and started to become known in the Central courts as an up-and-coming politician. Her views, which focused around strengthening Central’s economy and increasing the nation’s reputation as a kingdom of knowledge and mancy, attracted the attention of King Conwyn, resulting in her having numerous meetings with the King about how to improve Central. Arinton and Kyra often went exploring in old temples in Trepheon. They would often find artifacts of rarity and magic, which Kyra would offer to Conwyn as gifts in order to further increase her standing with him. During this time, Kyra learnt ancient Dormian, and began researching a rumoured object of great power of which had been mentioned in various old tomes. At 30, Arinton regretfully informed Kyra that he had to return to Ludwag due to an unspecified emergency. Though he offered to bring Kyra with him, she refused, believing that she had a high chance of making a good life for herself in Central. Because Oaken, as a drow, was not allowed back in Ludwag, he was assigned by Arinton to aid Kyra in any way she needed.' ' = The Advisor of Mancy = Two years after Arinton’s departure from Trepheon, Kyra was summoned by the King, who offered her the esteemed position as his advisor of mancy following his former advisor’s death. He had been impressed by her dedication to improving Central, in particular her finding of ancient relics and documenting of history. Kyra, of course, accepted the position with gusto. Her role gave her access to the vast Centralian archives, allowing her to further improve her knowledge on mancy and history. She organised expeditions, sometimes leading them herself, to excavate and study old temples and ruins. The archives also allowed her to conduct further study on the artifact she was interested in - an object known as the “Crucible”, supposedly a Dormian prison holding a powerful telemancy spirit inside. Kyra, however, missed the espionage aspect of her job with Arinton, and so set up her own spy ring with Oaken as its operator. She even got back in touch with Madame Sestra, whom she paid to use her girls to gather information on the street in the interests of national security. Following years of intense study, at 35 Kyra finally found a potential location for which the artifact could be hiding. She led a large expedition to find it, leading them to a tightly sealed Dormian vault. Once opened, the giant crystalline object revealed itself to them. Using a large stone wagon and a group of telemancers, Kyra brought it back to Central and stored it in their own vault…' ' = Reunion with a Friend = Though falling out of touch since becoming an advisor, Kyra and Selena eventually rekindled their spark and once again became secret lovers. To show her dedication and love to Kyra, Selena gave her a decorated key on a necklace - the key itself opening her safe in her home. Selena, being sentimental, claimed it represented the key to her heart. Selena had began to run short on money due to her insecure life as a mercenary, and so Kyra had the idea of employing her and her friends as Kyra’s personal enforcers and bodyguards. She would gather information on plots using her spy ring, then crush those plots using Selena’s group’s skills. For a while, Kyra’s influence with the King and security was unchallenged. However, the golden age of all kingdoms must come to an end at some point…' ' = Sebastian LaVey = King Conwyn hired a fresh face to his council - a rich elf from Ludwag, by the name of Sebastian LaVey. He was appointed as the advisor for military, and his extreme policies - including the banning of all “beastmen” such as orcs, remtar, minotaurs, and demons from central - clashed with Kyra’s more moderate views on the economy and class. At this time, Conwyn’s own mental state was deteriorating, and so many of Sebastian’s radical policies were implemented. With him, Sebastian brought a small army of what he claimed to be scholars and scientists. After his men began kidnapping, torturing and executing those even slightly accused of wrong-doing, it became clear that Sebastian had more nefarious intentions than the study of Trepheon’s history. Sebastian approached Kyra in private and threatened her, telling her to aid him and his men in the gathering of knowledge and their schemes. If she refused, or betrayed them, he told her that they would kill her. Kyra, not one to take threats lightly, lied to Sebastian about helping him and instead ordered her spies to gather information on him. After discovering a secret meeting would be held, Kyra sent Selena and her mercenaries to crash the party and find out what they were up to. However, Kyra and her allies underestimated the strength and numbers of their enemy, and Selena and her men were defeated. Selena was captured and tortured for information, however chose to conceal Kyra’s involvement thereby saving her life; as a result, she was executed. There was little time for Kyra to mourn her lover’s death - this was war.' ''' = A Game of Councillors = Soon, Conwyn filled out the entire council of advisors, introducing Hans (the Advisor of Coin) and Alluvium (the Advisor of Affairs). Hans’ views were strikingly similar to Sebastian’s, and as such the two became quick allies. The young Alluvium, however, was emotionally abused and manipulated by the two as a way of demonstrating their sheer power and influence. Kyra desired revenge for Selena’s death more than anything in the world, and quickly devised a plan to undermine and defeat the other advisors in order to become the top of the council. She struck up a fake friendship with Alluvium and manipulated the already damaged girl into fearing Sebastian even more, and convinced her that Sebastian was plotting to end her life. Kyra’s intention was to push Alluvium into murdering Sebastian - once he was out of the way, Hans would be powerless, and she could subjugate him easily. Eventually, Alluvium snapped, and hired lizardkin to kill Sebastian. The elf managed to survive, though Kyra’s plan was not ruined as it took an unexpected turn: in a rage, Sebastian sought out Alluvium and dished out justice himself, murdering her in cold blood. Kyra jumped at this opportunity and fed the information to the King. Conwyn summoned for Sebastian to discuss the incident, though foolishly, the elf - along with Hans - fled Central and hid in the canyons - proving his guilt. Kyra took this opportunity to have Oaken systematically purge all of Sebastian’s men still in Central. Many simply had their throats slit in the street, whilst the more senior members were rounded up and tortured personally by Kyra (partly for information on Sebastian’s location, and partly for satisfaction) before being executed. Sebastian was tracked down by the King’s men, and hanged. For his involvement, Hans was exiled. Kyra had finally achieved her revenge, though her remorse at having indirectly caused the death of the woman she loved still ate away at her. The King quickly restored the council with new members, but it was clear Kyra would remain the top-dog for a very, very long time...